Consequences
by Grantx752
Summary: Mellie is at the end of her rope when she meets the handsome and charming Derek Gordon. They fall in love and start an affair, but are the consequences worth it? (Co-written with the great QueenMellieGrant)


She doesn't want to be here. Not one bit. Things between her and Fitz didn't improve at all, not after he found out that she had been raped by his father, not even after their son had died. His main concern was that his mistress was gone now and that she hadn't been in contact with him since before the night that he had won his re-election. He could care less about Mellie, even after everything that they had been through recently. She didn't even know why she had expected things to change, because things were right back to where they were before, where Olivia was the most important thing on his mind, and Mellie wasn't anywhere near the top of his list of priorities.

Her relationship with Andrew wasn't any better either. He was still pushing her away. Olivia had been right. When it came to men like him, they would always choose power over love. But with Olivia gone, Mellie expected Andrew to go back to the Andrew that had loved her for the past 12 years and had taken care of her the way that a significant other should take care of her. But he didn't go back to that. He stayed the same and did his best to avoid her and only have a professional relationship with her.

So basically, her life was falling apart. She was falling apart. She was at the end of her rope and she was breaking completely. But she just had to deal with it, like she had for the past 15 years. She just had to stay strong and deal with it all no matter what.

She walked into the building, her arm interlocked with Fitz's. They still had to pretend like their marriage was okay, like everything was going great and like they were happier than ever. Even though all she wanted to do was slap him again. She walked around the room, chatting with random people, most of which were important but she had never actually met, and sipping on a martini. Martinis weren't really her thing, she loved hooch. But she couldn't really get completely wasted at a political event, so she decided that she would drown herself in hooch once she got home.

She found herself talking to this man, who she had definitely never seen before. But he was attractive, very attractive. It had been a while since she had met someone who she considered this attractive. But he was definitely one of the most attractive men that she had ever met in her entire life.

"Mrs. Grant." He smiled at her, his pearly white smile flashing at her. "I'm Derek Gordon. It's very nice to finally meet you."

Mellie blushed slightly, looking up at the tall, dark-skinned man in front of her. "Oh, call me Mellie." She told him, taking a sip of her drink. "Mhm, Derek Gordon. Congress. I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to meet you too." She extended her free hand, and he gave her a nice firm handshake, his smile never faltering.

She looked up into his eyes noticing how beautiful they were. They weren't just your ordinary brown eyes, they were mesmerizing. She could feel herself getting lost in them. She became so content staring into her eyes she hadn't heard his question.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked seeing his lips move but no words come out.

"Do you enjoy attending functions like these?" he asked taking a sip of his drink.

"No, not really. I find them rather dull. I wish it had a lighter atmosphere."

"I agree." he said looking around.

Things went quiet for a moment and they just stood there awkwardly sipping their drinks in silence. Looking across the room she noticed Fitz striking up conversation with a young woman in the corner. She looked to be about in her late twenties with golden hair and pale skin. He was clearly flirting with her. She looked around the room to see people regarding Fitz with curiosity and whispering and slyly pointing in his direction.

His infidelities were no secret but Mellie couldn't believe that he'd blatantly flirt at an event like this. Her cheeks flushed completely when she noticed some women pointing in her direction and whispering. No doubt they probably felt sorry for her. Mellie was sure that her face was beet red. She set her drink down on a nearby table and hurried out of the ballroom.

Tears blurred her vision but she willed herself not to cry. She had spent too much time crying over him. She hurried into the bathroom and sat in one of the stalls breathing heavily trying to keep her tears at bay. She sat for a few moments in the stall trying to calm herself down.

Ever since that night with Big Jerry, she'd suffered from horrible anxiety attacks and she always had to make sure she stayed calm. She dabbed at her eyes with a piece of tissue and sniffed a little taking deep breaths.

After sitting in the stall for about 5 more minutes she summoned the courage to go back to the ballroom. As she was leaving the bathroom she bumped into someone. She lost her balance and was about to collide with a nearby vase when the stranger caught her by the arm and pulled her to his chest.

She looked up to thank the stranger, realizing it wasn't a stranger at all. It was Derek Gordon. "Are you alright?" he asked. A look of concern graced his handsome features as he looked over her for bruises. "I'm fine. Thank you." Mellie said looking up at him, not even trying to pull away from his grasp.

"Ignore those women. I'm sure their marriages aren't as perfect as they make it seem either." he said as he released her. Mellie stood there in shock as he continued down the hall. Moments after he rounded the corner, Fitz and his new whore were leaving the ballroom arm & arm. When they saw Mellie standing in the hallway they quickly pulled apart. The young woman took off down the hall, her cheeks burning red.

"I thought you'd gone off to screw Andrew." he said cooly.

"You ended that remember?" she replied bitterly.

"You think I was going to stand idly by while another man fucked my wife?"

"You expected me to do so when you were fucking Olivia." she shot back.

"I was in love with her!"

"You don't think I was in love with Andrew?!" she cried.

Tears flooded her vision and she slapped them away. She brushed past him wiping away her tears.

"Where are you going?" he asked

"I'm going to check on my children and then i'm going to bed. Fuck who you want. I don't care." she spat venomously.

Fitz sighed and rubbed his forehead and watched her retreat before deciding to go find the young woman he'd left the ballroom with. If she didn't care then why should he?

It pains her. Physically pains her to watch him like that, to see him go right back to how he had been, even after all that had happened. In fact, he was even worse now, worse than before. She sucked in a breath as she walked up to the Residence, not neglecting to stop and get herself a glass of hooch before checking in on Karen. She peeked in the door and smiled to herself when she saw the teenager sleeping so peacefully in her bed. She stared for a second before backing away and closing the door once more, going to check on Teddy.

She walked in the nursery and chuckled silently to herself as she saw what sleeping position the toddler had settled on. He was on his stomach, forearms pressed against his crib mattress, and his bottom was in the air. But he seemed to be perfectly comfortable, so Mellie left the little boy alone. She watched him for a while longer than she had watched Karen, watching his slow, steady breathing, and the sound he would make every time he breathed, because he was sick. The brunette made a mental note to make sure she was in bed soon, since she knew Teddy would be up looking for her. He always wanted to sleep with her when he was sick.

Mellie finished her drink and left the nursery, making sure to leave the door cracked slightly. She poured herself some more hooch and sighed to herself as she thought about what her life had truly come to. After a few seconds of feeling bad for herself, she snapped out of it and decided to go back down to the ballroom and see if Derek was still there. Why should she have to leave and go to bed while he was most likely feeling up his whore in some hallway closet?

It didn't take her long to find Derek. He was still in the hallway, leaning against the wall and staring down at his phone. "Well hello there." Mellie walked over to him, a little more on the tipsy side than she was when she had left.

"Hey, I thought you'd left."

She shook her head, frowning slightly. "No. I checked on the kids and decided to come back down. I figured if I could at least be near someone who appreciated my company, why not?" She shrugged slightly and Derek just smiled, that pearly white smile that Mellie had so quickly grown to like.

"You act as if everyone you talk to doesn't enjoy your company."

"I do. They don't."

"I find that very hard to believe, Mellie."

Mellie frowned, and shook her head. "You don't know me very well, Derek. Give it a while and even you won't enjoy my company."

"Like I said, I highly doubt that." he replies stepping closer to her.

The intoxicating scent of his cologne hit her nostrils and she swooned. He smelled so damn good. The alcohol in her system wasn't helping her one bit either. She bit her lip as she felt her wetness pooling between her thighs.

"Can I have your number? Maybe we can talk & go out to lunch sometime." he asked.

She knew it was risky, especially in a public setting like this but she was done caring. She was going to live for her now.

She and Derek exchanged numbers and he promised to text her later. He leaned in and kissed her cheek as he left, turning around one more time to flash that beautiful smile at her.

Early the next morning, just like she predicted, Teddy trudged into her bedroom whining and running a fever. Mellie got up out of bed and took him into the bathroom she shared with Fitz and ran a tub full of cold water placed Teddy in to sponge him down.

Teddy was 10x more cranky when he was sick so as soon as he was submerged in the cold water he began to cry loudly and cling to Mellie.

"Teddy Bear, you gotta get back in the tub." she said prying her wet child from her body. She sat him back down in the tub and continued to sponge him down while he screamed the place down.

A moment later, Fitz entered the bathroom and rolled his eyes at his wailing son.

"Can't you keep him quiet?" he hissed starting the shower.

"He's sick Fitzgerald, babies cry when they're sick." she said tightly. She didn't want to argue with him in front of Teddy, she knew that would only make him cry harder.

After having him sit in the tub for another 15 mins, she wrapped him in a towel and stuck the thermometer in his mouth to check if his repertoire had gone down. It had dropped a little and she was grateful for that.

She took him into the nursery and put him in a diaper, deciding against putting him in any other clothes. She sat down in the rocking chair and slowly rocked him to sleep. As she watched him sleep, she thought to herself, wondering when, or even if, she would see Derek again. Just thinking about seeing him again made her wet, and she tried to brush it off, trying to focus on something else.


End file.
